So I hardly doubt this small question during the movie asked by the principal to Germain.. What you think about the central characters. I think both student and teacher played and share fair amount of angel and devil part through out the movie...
shareClaude is a complicated character as he evoked most of my sympathy but as the film progressed some of his actions and story writing was dubious. There were lots of references to him mother leaving, which inspire pity but could also be seen as manipulative.
The distance is nothing. The first step is the hardest.share
We don’t know the full truth about Claude’s family – decamped mother? disabled father? no sibs? What we do know is that he has the gifts of observation, imagination and story telling.
As Germain tells him, stories are not about reality but must lead the reader in the desired direction by playing on the emotions. Doesn’t this mean that by definition the successful fiction writer, whether novel or screenplay, has to bend truth and be manipulative?
We don't know the full truth in terms of facts laid out but with some imagination of our own we can fill in Claude's life from the few bits we are given. His desire to infiltrate others' lives, including Germain's, his wish to please and to manipulate, his chameleon-like nature, lead one to infer things about his family life. It's the same process we practise in life even if we're not aware of 'filling in' the lives of those around us from the little details we know combined with their personalities.
As Germain tells him, stories are not about reality but must lead the reader in the desired direction by playing on the emotions. Doesn’t this mean that by definition the successful fiction writer, whether novel or screenplay, has to bend truth and be manipulative?I don't think the best of writing comes from 'bending the truth', if that means taking license with it, or from manipulating the reader. Germain's creative theory is possibly flawed as it did not reap him success as an author. I would say that the best writing confronts us with reality but from a POV we never considered or were aware of before. Rather than manipulate it challenges the reader and demands they bring ourselves into the novel and its characters; this is imagination at its best.
Movement ends, intent continues;share
Intent ends, spirit continues
You’re right, Poppy, and my tongue was part way into my cheek. Could one say that Germain’s theory of fiction perhaps sounds more like a formula for a Hollywood screenplay, or for the comic books which the French inexplicably love? Might it however help an aspirant to get started, before he learns to develop more breadth and originality? And, assuming Claude has in fact read them, didn’t Germain lend him some worthwhile books from which he could learn a lot?
The relationship between fiction and reality, obviously a major theme of the (fictional) film, was not the original question and I ought to return to moral assessment of the principals. What about the conflicting arcs of the two main characters? After Germain’s failings have caused him the loss of his wife and his post at the school, at the end he seems to be in some sort of mental institution. All pretty well downhill? What though is Claude’s course?
Could one say that Germain’s theory of fiction perhaps sounds more like a formula for a Hollywood screenplay, or for the comic books which the French inexplicably love?I'm not familiar with the French comic books, but yes a Hollywood screenplay fits the bill!
Might it however help an aspirant to get started, before he learns to develop more breadth and originality? And, assuming Claude has in fact read them, didn’t Germain lend him some worthwhile books from which he could learn a lot?May be, but it's the worst possible way to frame fiction writing and it might be a subconscious hole that an aspiring writer falls into and from s/he cannot escape.
What about the conflicting arcs of the two main characters? After Germain’s failings have caused him the loss of his wife and his post at the school, at the end he seems to be in some sort of mental institution. All pretty well downhill? What though is Claude’s course?What do you mean when you ask what is Claude's course? I didn't see Germain as being in a mental institution by the end of the film though.
Movement ends, intent continues;share
Intent ends, spirit continues
hi PT, always glad to find you commenting. I just read a VERY perceptive and interesting interview with the Claude actor, on Ozon's website (also just discovered his site! boy, i'm going to spend alot of hours there i bet! 9 Women is one of my fav films.)
http://francois-ozon.com/en/interviews-in-the-house/338-entretien-avec-ernst-umhauer
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Hi film_ophile, thanks for your kind words and the Ozon link. I read the young actor's interview. I think he and I are/were of a similar mindset re-Claude, who I felt much sympathy for.
Re-Ozon: In the House is the only one of his I've seen and really liked. The others have left me tepid to cold. I've yet to see 9 Women though so will look out for that to watch.
I commented on your thread on the Elena (2011) board. I hope my disagreement didn't come across as too unfriendly! If it did, then apologies :)
I give my respect to those who have earned it; to everyone else, I'm civil.share
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I didn't like Germain. As a fully formed adult, in a position of authority, he encouraged a troubled teenager to spy on a family to gain material for writing. I thought it just he was stripped of both job and wife. I didn't feel overly sorry for Claude. Yes, his own family environment lacked the love he observed in Rafa's family, but he lacked conscience. I read the article shared in this thread and the actor who played Claude said
He's smart, but not very conscious of his responsibility. Yes, not very conscious at all ...